In photos: SantaCon Asheville 2013

Here comes Santa Claus! Downtown was swarming with Santas, elves and even a Krampus or two as revelers flocked to bars and meetups for SantaCon Asheville on Saturday, Dec. 7.

In previous years the event was cloaked in secrecy, with meet up locations and times a carefully guarded secret. However, for 2013 organizers decided to open the event to the public, with a Facebook group to help organize the would-be Clauses.

The event began around 2 p.m. as decked-out “Santa Krewes” trickled into downtown, posing for photos at Pack Square or grabbing a brew on the Santa-filled Amazing Pubcycle. The revelry continued into the night with several bars, including Ben’s Tune-Up, designating themselves Santa-friendly gathering spots.

Scroll through the slideshow to see more photos from SantaCon Asheville